Andy Murray Beats Novak Djokovic for U.S. Open Title

ENLARGE

Andy Murray celebrated after a point during his men's singles final match against Novak Djokovic.
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By

Tom Perrotta

Updated Sept. 28, 2012 5:52 p.m. ET

It was never going to be simple for Andy Murray, who until Monday was the best tennis player in the world—and maybe ever—to never win a Grand Slam title. There would be groans. Moans. Hangdog looks, self-loathing, thigh slaps, "jelly" legs (his words) and much limping. His hair, everyone knew, would be an absolute mess. And of course, the swearing—lots and lots of swearing.

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But at the U.S. Open on Monday, Murray finally hit through the agony and found a way to win his first Grand Slam title, 7-6(12-10), 7-5, 2-6, 3-6, 6-2 over Novak Djokovic.

Murray looked stunned after Djokovic's final shot, a rocket return of a serve just like the one that helped him save match point against Roger Federer here last year, went long.

"'Relief' is probably the best word I would use to describe how I'm feeling just now," Murray said. "If I had lost this one from two sets up, that would have been a tough one to take."

Andy Murray won the U.S. Open in five grueling sets to become the first British man since 1936 to capture a Grand Slam. WSJ's Jonathan Clegg and Neil McIntosh have been following Murray in the U.S. Open. Photo: AP

Murray and Djokovic had waited a long time for this moment. New York. The U.S Open. The largest, and loudest, stadium on the Grand Slam circuit. No Federer. No Rafael Nadal. Just them, two 25-year-olds, born seven days apart, friends since their teens and even, on a few occasions, doubles partners. And did they ever deliver.

For the second day in a row, the atmosphere inside Arthur Ashe Stadium was electric. This match got off to a shaky start, with consecutive breaks of serve to open the first set as they tried to handle strong gusts of wind. Once they settled in, the tennis was often dazzling.

These two move as well as anyone on tour, play defense as well as anyone on tour and return serve as well, too. Murray is the sport's ultimate pest. Hit a perfect overhead? If it doesn't bounce into the stands, he'll get his racket on it. He'll lob, hit sidespin and deliver drop shots. Djokovic is so flexible one wonders why his limbs don't spring loose.

For four hours and 54 minutes—tied for longest men's final at the Open—Murray and Djokovic hit hard, soft, short, deep and most often, wide: When these two play tennis, it's normal to stand in the doubles alleys and swing for the corners.

Momentum shifted throughout the match. Both men began with tentative and sloppy shots as they tried to tame swirling wind and track the ball on a court that had blotches of both shade and sun.

Then the pace picked up. Murray hit his forehand harder and deeper. Djokovic missed less. The rallies became crisp, tense and sometimes absurd: One lasted 54 strokes. In the tiebreaker, Murray fell behind 5-3, led 6-5 and eventually won, on his sixth set point, 12-10.

In the second set, Murray won the first four games and seemed ready to run away with the match. And then Djokovic, whose game was more down than up to that point, starting hitting bigger and missing less. Even though he lost the set after closing to within 4-5 on his serve, he seemed calmer, faster and more in control of his sneakers, which had been sticking to the court and interrupting his trademark slides.

Djokovic had won 27 straight Grand Slam matches on hard courts headed into this match, and in the next two sets, he showed why. His serve picked up speed and hit more lines, and his forehand became lethal, as it was for most of last year, when he won three Grand Slam singles titles.

Headed into the fifth set, Djokovic looked like the fitter player. And then Murray, surprisingly, pounced. He broke serve twice in the first three games and served out the match with relative ease, thanks in part to two successful line challenges.

Murray is the first British man to win a major title since Fred Perry won what was then the U.S. Championships in 1936. It took him five tries to do it, just like his coach, Ivan Lendl. Fitting, then, that it finally happened here, where Lendl—once seen as an underachiever—won three straight titles.

"I don't have to get asked that stupid question again," Murray said.

Murray and Lendl share more than frustrating starts to their careers. Gallows humor. Obsessiveness over tactics. The drive to practice and train for endless hours. And now, the U.S. Open. Lendl, who remained seated the entire match as Murray's mother, girlfriend and trainers jumped and screamed, finally stood after the last point was won.

"He doesn't smile a whole lot," Murray joked.

As agonizing as it has been for Murray to break through in this era of tennis greatness, he said he'd rather be playing now than in an era when he might have won more often.

"Playing against them has made me improve so much," he said. "I always said that maybe if I played another era, maybe I would have won more, but I wouldn't have been as good a tennis player."

And now, of course, the conversation has changed entirely. For years, there was Federer, Nadal and everyone else. Then along came Djokovic, who won three majors last season and started off 2012 with a victory at the Australian Open. After Murray's gold medal at the Olympics and a U.S. Open title, tennis has the best kind of parity a sport could possibly want: four players who are good enough to be considered No. 1.

Corrections & Amplifications Four different men won Grand Slam tennis titles in 2012. An earlier version of this article incorrectly attributed this to the "parody" in men's tennis. The correct word was "parity."

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